#ethel cain coded

because of the Leviticus aesthetic im currently contemplating on whether having a half man fanfic that is set in an oldtown from scotland that looks and acts like it is stuck in the 1800's.

Niall as a former priests son, waiting to take on his fathers steps until his mother starts dating maura who owns the bakery next the local market. About lori's and maura's relationship and how it came to be especially to a setting like this where typically same sex relationships are looked down upon, they mostly kept it a secret aside from their sons but of course it is already speculated heavily by other folks which leads to the niall bullying incident. Ruben here is the butchers son (cliche), used to help his father out to hunt for meat until maura grew sick of him and his abuse and took both of them out of the house.

Niall tries to follow his fathers footsteps until ruben comes into picture and practically "corrupts" him, which adds up even further to his decreasing self esteem. Niall repents heavily in the church until his knees ache and scrape against the wood, knelt down at the front of the altar in the midst of night.

This is very ethel cain coded, and the idea fits perfectly because of canon nialls repressed sexuality, and internalized homophobia. I think it would make more sense if he had religious guilt, to add up to his miserable life.